Town halls 'could co-fund hospitals'

摘要

Cabinet Office minister, Francis Maude, has called for councils to co-fund new hospitals with the NHS and private sector partners. In an interview with a newspaper in West Sussex, the local MP said a new way of funding an acute hospital for the areas of Horsham and Crawley needed to be found. Campaigners have spent several years lobbying for a hospital for the area, which is currently serviced by a site in the neighbouring county of Surrey. 'We've always envisaged that a new hospital [financed] in this way would be very innovative, and would be a partnership between the local councils, potentially an NHS foundation trust and the private sector,' Mr Maude said. 'I do not want the Government to write out a huge cheque for there to be a new hospital - this is not going to happen. Nor do I want there to be a classic private-finance initiative,' he added.